


Nature's Embrace

by WotanAnubis



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Nudism, Pre-Relationship, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 09:15:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7929169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WotanAnubis/pseuds/WotanAnubis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the past is never quite as far away as one might hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nature's Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> I never really know how to tag my stories. I always just pick a few and hope for the best.

**Join Us. Thrive.**

Erin stumbled blindly through the Cindersap Forest. It was a bright and sunny Summer day, but she didn't notice. Her head was too crowded. She'd been doing her farm chores, as usual, when she'd felt _it_ welling up from the wretched pits of her soul. This overwhelming numbness, the death of her every happy emotion. The death of her every negative emotion. The death of her spirit.

And the feeling had stolen over her that all this - her new farm, her new town, her new friends, her new life - was a lie. Or if not a lie, then temporary. A fleeting, ephemeral moment that was about to end. That tomorrow she was going to wake up trapped back inside her cubicle in a dead-end job with no prospects of promotion or even a raise. That her paycheck was just _barely_ enough to cover rent and ramen, provided she never, ever got sick. That she'd be cast back into the mind-crushing tedium of her old existence and she was never going to escape. Ever.

It was all a lie. She knew that. She really did have a new life in Pelican Town and tomorrow it really was going to still be here. But cold knowledge didn't stand a chance against the devouring void of anti-feeling. She'd forced herself to finish her chores and then left. At that point even her rustic little farm reminded her too much of the decaying concrete monstrosity that had been her home.

There were no buildings here. No roads. No corporate slogans screaming at her. No managers watching over her with malicious indifference. But it still wasn't enough. The past still clung to her. Literally.

Erin struggled out of her black skull tee ( _Express Your Individuality with **Joja!**_ ) and left it on the grass behind her. She took off her shoes, got rid of her socks. She pulled down her black pants and stepped out of them. Without really thinking about what she was doing she took off her black bra and boxers as well and cast them aside.

She stepped forward. The sun shone down on her naked body. A warm breeze caressed her dark skin.

Erin breathed in. Breathed out.

She lie down on her back and closed her eyes. The grass was hard and scratchy, but she'd take it over a dozen Joja-brand silk pillows.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

The sun above didn't really care about her either, but at least it warmed her. Made the trees grow.

In. Out.

The breeze rustled through the leaves. So did squirrels, from time to time. They'd never had to worry about bills or the clock.

In. Out.

Below her, worms burrowed their way through the dirt. Erin felt like she could actually sense them, down there in the living soil. Probably just her imagination, though.

In. Out.

Or maybe not. The Wizard had imbued her with the 'essence of the forest', after all.

"Wha- Woah. Uhm. Erin?"

Erin knew what she should do from watching a whole lot of movies and TV series. Someone had stumbled across her lying naked in the dirt. She should panic, cover herself up, be embarrassed and ashamed.

"Afternoon, Leah," Erin said calmly, keeping her eyes closed.

"You... err... Should I leave? Seems I've come across a private moment."

"I don't care," said Erin. "You can stay if you like. Or leave if you want."

"Oh. Right."

There was silence for a while, then a familiar rustling. It sounded like Leah had sat down in the grass. Erin didn't open her eyes to check.

"Lovely day," Leah commented.

"Yeah," Erin agreed. "Didn't start that way."

"Oh?" Leah asked. "Something wrong?"

Erin hesitated. But if she could tell anyone, it was Leah.

"I... felt like I was going back to the city. Couldn't bear it. So I came out here," she said. "Does that make sense?"

"Totally," Leah said. "I have this nightmare about once a season where I'm back in my old apartment and think my life out here was just a dream. I hate it."

"You think you're away from it all, and then... Well, anyway, I'm doing much better now, so... Whatever."

"And you seem to have lost all your clothes, too," Leah said.

"It really helped, surprisingly," said Erin. "It's hard to feel like you're back in the city when there's literally nothing between you and all this nature. I think I'll do this more often."

"Really?"

"Well, maybe."

Erin breathed in deeply. Right at this moment, there was no 'maybe' about it. Perhaps tomorrow she'd feel different, but for now her nakedness felt absolutely right and she wasn't about to give it up for anything.

"So..." Leah said slowly. "You're a natural redhead, huh?"

Erin chuckled. It wasn't very funny, but right now she'd laugh at anything that lightened the mood.

"Yep. Surprised?"

"Pretty much," Leah said. "Your hair is so bright red, I always assumed you'd dyed your hair."

"Maybe I'm just very thorough," Erin said, grinning.

"Well, you are very meticulous when it comes to your farm," said Leah.

"There you are then."

There was a moment of silence, disturbed only by the wind moving through the leaves. Erin opened her eyes and risked a glance at Leah. She sat against a nearby tree, looking ahead with a faint smile on her face.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Leah asked.

"Shoot."

"Would you mind if I painted you like this? Not now, obviously. But one day."

"You mean naked?" Erin asked.

"And in the forest," Leah added. "Naked woman in nature is a classic subject in art, really. But it's one I haven't really bothered to explore until now."

"How about on the farm?"

"Hmm. Interesting," said Leah. "Yes, I think I could work with that. So you'll do it?"

"Let me think about it," said Erin. "But, probably."

"Great."

"You know," Erin said. "I think I understand Linus a lot better now."

Leah chuckled. "I think I know what you mean."

Erin closed her eyes and turned her face to the sun again. It was about time she started heading back again. Sure, she'd finished her chores, but she'd also planned on clearing out some more of her land, tilling some more soil, sowing some more seeds.

Just because she could stay here forever didn't mean she should.

Erin sighed.

"I guess I should be going," she said.

"Yeah. Same here," said Leah. She sounded sad.

Erin got to her feet. There was dirt on her back and grass tangled in her hair. She made no effort to clean herself up. She walked over to the messy pile of her randomly-discarded clothes and pulled up short.

A wave of revulsion washed through her. She could go back to her farm. It was a place of living, natural things that she'd planted and cared for. But her clothes - corporate-approved apparel. She loathed the very sight of them. She'd sooner burn them than touch them again. But she still needed them. For winter, if nothing else.

Moving with glacial slowness, Erin picked up her clothes. She hated every second of it. Despised the way the synthetic fabrics hid her skin from the sun and the air. And that was just her holding them in her arms. There was _no way_ she was going to put them back on. Not today. She couldn't bear it today.

"Hey, uhm..."

Erin turned around, grateful for the distraction. Leah had got up and stood nervously tugging at a sleeve.

"If uh... if you ever feel like going out into the forest like... y'know, like this. Could you maybe invite me to come along?"

"Sure," said Erin after a while. "That'd be nice."

Leah smiled, nervous uncertainty battling with overjoyed relief. "Great. So... it's a date, then?"

"Why not?" said Erin. "It's a date."


End file.
